Somalia: “Unseen and Unsafe”: Street Girls in Garowe are at Risk

Introduction and Summary

Every night, a covert crisis unfolds in the heart of Garowe’s market. Groups of street-connected children, boys and girls alike, gather in roadside booths, market corners, and abandoned buildings, seeking safety, shelter, and a way to survive. These children, some as young as ten, have been pushed to the margins of society by poverty, displacement, and domestic strife. With no access to family care, many beg for food or rely on low-paying, menial tasks like selling bottled water or carrying loads. However, in exchange for necessities like food, clothing, or protection, many are exploited, with girls especially vulnerable to sexual abuse, and boys increasingly drawn into criminal networks or substance abuse as coping mechanisms.

Although the number of homeless children/street children has been gradually increasing over the years, the situation has recently become even more alarming due to their visible use of drugs, particularly glue, among these children, particularly boys, who often self-medicate to cope with trauma, hunger, and social exclusion, which they are often seen using openly in public.

What makes the situation even more concerning is the lack of comprehensive data or formal research on the various types of hidden or lesser-known alcoholic elements that these children might be using. This lack of information makes it difficult to fully understand the scale of the problem and poses a challenge to designing effective interventions to address it.

Another critical issue that requires serious attention is the increasing presence of young girls among street children. This development significantly heightens the risks and vulnerabilities faced by these girls, as they are more likely to experience specific threats such as physical abuse, sexual exploitation, and other forms of mistreatment.

In June 2025, two sisters aged 7 and 8 were brutally raped after being trapped in a car by a man in Garowe. The case, now before the Garowe First Instance Court, is a grim reminder of the extreme risks faced by girls living on the streets.

Muna and Asha are on the verge of becoming homeless

This is a spot along one of the main roads in Garowe. It’s almost 1:00 a.m., and as we walked as a group, we saw Muna and Asha from a distance (names we’ve changed to protect their identities). They were sitting in a place with very little shelter, while strong winds were blowing, and their thin clothing offered little protection. Although they appeared alert and were trying to avoid being approached, we still asked them, “Why are you here at this hour?”.

Muna, who seemed to be the older of the two, responded: “We were out polishing shoes and begging for food to take home to our family. Our house is far on the outskirts of town, and my mother’s phone is switched off. We don’t have any money to take a tuk-tuk (bajaj) home, and even if we can, we’re afraid. So, we decided to stay here,” said Muna, her voice filled with fear and trembling.

This highlights that many parents living in displacement camps, low-income neighborhoods, and newly arrived families without stable housing do not take strong responsibility for monitoring the times their children may be away from home.

14-Year-Old Amina Talks About Exploitation and the Battle for Safety

Many vulnerable children in Garowe lack family care or stable housing, including 14-year-old Amina, who is currently receiving assistance from a local outreach program. After years of domestic strife, she fled her home and has since survived by sleeping in public places and taking on menial jobs from store owners and market vendors in return for food or spare change.

Amina revealed that one of the shops she frequently went to for assistance started abusing her confidence, according to a social professional who was familiar with her case. His motives were neither safe nor encouraging, but he did offer her food and a place to sleep. Feeling trapped and ashamed, Amina stopped visiting the area for several weeks until she came into contact with a local child protection team.

The social worker said, “She thought he was helping her.” However, she eventually realized that she was being exploited. Amina initially had no one to turn to, like many girls in her circumstances. Amina is currently receiving basic education, medical attention, and psychosocial help as part of a safe home program. Although she has begun to regain her confidence, the road to recovery is unpredictable and lengthy. Amina’s tale is representative of a larger trend of exploitation based on survival that impacts street-connected females in Garowe and throughout Puntland. Many girls are still at risk of similar experiences if they do not have access to shelter, protective services, and legal protections.

In compliance with child safety procedures, the name was altered and the information was made anonymous.

A Social Worker, Sahra – “Street Girls Are the Most Invisible Victims of GBV”

Sahra Ali, a trained protection officer and acts as case worker under the Ministry of Women Development and Family Affairs, has spent the past five years working directly with vulnerable children in Puntland’s metropolitan areas, particularly in Garowe. Through this experience, she has come to believe that the predicament of girls with ties to the streets is the most pressing and most neglected of the numerous cases she comes across. According to Sahra, “the most unseen victims of gender-based violence (GBV) are street girls.” They lack a permanent address, are rarely included in official statistics, and many of them lack faith in authorities or institutions. As a result, hardly ever are their experiences discussed, much less documented.

According to Sahra, these girls often end up on the streets due to abuse, neglect, or extreme poverty at home. Once there, they face heightened risks of exploitation and violence but remain outside the reach of most formal protection mechanisms. Many child-focused organizations, including Save the Children and its partners, are working to strengthen community-based child protection systems through mobile outreach, community-led protection initiatives, and long-term efforts to influence policies and legal frameworks that safeguard children’s rights. While organizations like TAAKULO and TASS offer critical support through emergency shelters and drop-in services, Sahra highlights a key shortfall: the specific and growing needs of street-connected children, especially girls, are rarely addressed through targeted interventions or coordinated responses.

“We need to include these girls in the protection system,” she emphasized. “That means more than just creating safe spaces; it means educating communities, vendors, law enforcement, and healthcare workers to recognize and respond to their needs with dignity and confidentiality.”

Her message is clear: without focused attention and tailored support, street-connected girls will continue to slip through the cracks of Puntland’s child protection system, unseen, unheard, and unprotected.

Testimony from a local mother near the Garowe main road

Longtime Garowe resident Halima, a mother of four, operates a little food stand outside the road. She observes the ups and downs of city life from her vantage point, as well as the growing vulnerability of kids, particularly girls, who reside or spend a significant portion of their time on the streets.

She says, “I see a lot of the same girls every day. Most of them are young, and they appear hungry and exhausted as they loiter around the road. Sometimes they carry cans of shoe polish, but they appear to have nowhere to go after the sun sets”.

Despite these challenges, Halima has begun working informally with a local community protection committee in her village, and she believes more awareness and stronger community reporting systems could make a difference. “We all need to speak up, not just the organizations,” she says. “These girls are part of our community; if we don’t protect them, who will?”

Her perspective reinforces the need for community-driven protection approaches, including awareness campaigns, anonymous reporting channels, and strengthened collaboration between local residents, businesses, and child protection services.

Addressing the Gaps for Street-Connected Children in Puntland

The primary responsibility for ensuring the safety and protection of children lies with the government, which is obligated to safeguard their fundamental rights and provide necessary support. Unfortunately, for the past 34 years, Somalia has lacked a robust and reliable system that guarantees the protection and welfare of children at a national level.

In Puntland, which recently marked its 27th anniversary, there is still no official data or comprehensive assessment available on the number and conditions of homeless or street-connected children.

During this report, we engaged with the Ministry of Women Development and Family Affairs (MoWDAFA), which holds the official mandate for child protection. Senior officials from the ministry confirmed that they are in the process of conducting a comprehensive assessment that will serve as the foundation for developing a formal child protection policy, specifically targeting street children across Puntland.

A senior official from the ministry’s child protection Department stated, “This Ministry is working on developing a comprehensive child protection policy for Puntland. This policy will establish a legal and institutional framework to ensure the safety and well-being of every child, including those living on the streets. She added, “Once the assessment is finalized, we will share the findings with the media and all relevant stakeholders to promote transparency and collaborative action.”

This development marks an important step forward, but much more needs to be done to ensure that vulnerable children are not left behind and that child protection becomes a fully funded and implemented priority at all levels of governance.

Advocacy Message

This article highlights the critical need for focused, coordinated initiatives to protect the rights and welfare of Puntland’s street children, who are rapidly increasing, especially girls, who are more vulnerable to abuse, neglect, and exploitation. The establishment of child protection shelters in major cities, such as Garowe and Bosaso, is a crucial component of these efforts. These safe places would provide children in crisis with case management, food, medical attention, and temporary housing.

The utilization of night guard units—trained social workers, child protection officers, and medical professionals who can interact with children on the streets during high-risk hours- is another recommendation made in the report. These patrol teams would offer basic medical care, protection from possible predators, and on-the-spot referrals. Outreach to the community is essential for both prevention and quick reaction, especially at night and in the evening.

The growth of psychosocial services suited to the needs of kids who are homeless, abused, or traumatized is equally important. Street-connected youth frequently experience emotional anguish, mistrust, and behavioral issues, but there are still very few mental health options available. For community services and shelters to offer ongoing, trauma-informed care, trained counselors and child psychologists must be incorporated.

Puntland can make significant changes from reactive to proactive, rights-based protection by funding child protection shelters, mobile support services, and trauma care. This will guarantee that no child is left to live on the streets without assistance, hope, or a future.

So, Inter-agency cooperation between the government, non-governmental organizations, law enforcement, and health services is necessary for these initiatives to have a significant impact.

• More public funding for child protection facilities.
• Raising awareness in the community to lessen stigma and promote reporting and referrals
• Legal frameworks that put the well-being of children first in situations involving familial neglect or exploitation.
• Including religious leaders in awareness-raising efforts in Puntland is also recommended

Key Recommendations

• Establish Child Protection Shelters in big cities, offering case management, food, medical care, and temporary housing.

• Establish mobile outreach teams of trained social workers, child protection officers, and medical personnel to regularly reach out to street-connected children, provide immediate protection, assess their needs, and facilitate access to services such as temporary shelter, medical care, and family reunification whenever possible.

• Expand Psychosocial Services with trauma-informed care delivered by qualified counselors and child psychologists.

• Strengthening Community Networks through awareness campaigns, anonymous reporting channels, and training for vendors, religious leaders, and chiefs.

• Increase Government Funding and enact legal frameworks prioritizing children’s well-being in neglect and exploitation cases.

• Ensure Government Accountability and Coordination by establishing a dedicated child protection task force responsible for monitoring street-connected children’s welfare, coordinating inter-agency response efforts, and enforcing child protection policies at all administrative levels.